After long fight over location, Cary District 26 new bus center gets nod from village

Cary School District 26 is one step closer to building a new transportation center next to Aldi after losing the option to rebuild on the former Maplewood Elementary School property.

District 26 plans to build a new transportation center at 3370 Three Oaks Road. It will include an 8,142-square-foot maintenance building, storage for 41 school buses, a fueling station, 70 parking spaces, and two stormwater detention basins, village documents show.

Cary's zoning, planning and appeals board unanimously approved the project last week.

Currently, the district has a fleet of about 25 buses at the former Maplewood property, District 26 Superintendent Brandon White said.

After a years-long dispute, District 26 sold its Maplewood property to the village for $5.5 million last year and agreed to develop a new transportation site at another location.

Originally, the district planned to demolish the Maplewood building and construct a new $6 million transportation center on the site. However, the village rejected District 26’s attempts to rezone the property.

The vacant land where the new transportation center will go is broken up into three lots of commercial property, with the center on the northernmost lot next to the Union Pacific railroad. Plans are to sell the other two lots for future commercial development, according to village documents.

The land is currently zoned B-2, a shopping and business designation. Bus storage is permitted under the zoning as a conditional use, according to village documents.

With zoning approval, the district will seek village board approval on July 1, Community Development Director Brian Simmons said.